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We're literally talking about theoretical civilizations far beyond our tech level, though. If you think speculation is pointless that's your prerogative, but limiting oneself to current "boring" understanding makes as much sense as, say, upon hearing of the possible existence of snakes for the first time, presupposing they must be bi- or quad-pods, since all the mammals you have seen so far are.
No offense, but your opinion (let alone level of confidence) goes, ironically, against our current understanding. After double-checking with google and AI, current consensus from theoretical astrophysicists seems to be that it is probably possible to trigger a supernova, but we don't know a practical way to achieve it. In addition, most scientists neither believe we know all possible types of natural supernovae, certainly not completely different unnatural possibilities. Which stacks the deck in favor of "probably possible in some fashion" further.
Trigger supernovae, just like it's possible to travel faster than light by simply building an Alcubierre drive, because theoretical physicists say so? Call me when someone builds a proof of concept.
RE: Snakes - If someone tells me they observed a novel form of locomotion, I'm all ears. If I know them to be an ethusiast for imaginary forms of locomotion, I'll remain skeptical.
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